Disclaimer: I do not own inuyasha. I am only renting them for about 5$/hr for story purposes.

" " means talking. ' ' means thinking

Life is another form of reanimated Death.

Chapter-2 bRepentance Process/b

Kikyo shivered from the unknown surroundings. She walked around the void, calling out towards the horizon for assistance. There was no response; the only sound emitting was the echoes of her voice. After a couple more tries; Kikyo dropped her knees in exhaustion. 'Why am I here?' She gripped her hands until her fingernails drew blood. Confused and now growing angry, Kikyo yelled out in a tone that would shake the gates of heaven itself, "Is this the true place of hell? Why? Why did you betray me Inuyasha? It's so cold and lonely! Why Inuyasha?"

"It is not his fault, you put the blame on him for every little problem in your life."

Kikyo's head rose up and searched for the voice's location. She was scrambling to find another individual to end her loneliness. Unfortunately for her, not a single soul was seen. Then in a flash that would scare anyone, a large, white rectangle appeared before her. Kikyo squinted from the object's illuminated intensity. Gradually, the brightness faded, and what Kikyo saw left her breathless in disbelief: It was an image of Inuyasha and herself, sitting on the grass plains.

Kikyo reached out to touch Inuyasha's image but quickly retracted from a painful shock volt. Rubbing her hand, Kikyo noticed that the picture was beginning to move, like watching a memory unfold. She stood there, fixated at the familar scene before her:

"Inuyasha, you can become human...If you use the Shikon no Tama."

'I remember that day.' Kikyo thought.

"Tommorrow at dawn, I'll come here... bringing the Shikon no Tama."

The picture froze; followed up with a haunting voice: "Kikyo how can you be so selfish?"

Taken off guard by the accusation, Kikyo whispered, "What?"

"You heard me. How can you be so selfish? Have ye not thought of anyone but yourself?"

Kikyo bleekly replied, "I don't understand."

"You said that you wouldn't be a regular human being because of the jewel. You wanted to be free from the responsibility. So what better way to do escape your duty, than making a half-demon feel worthless; thus convincing him to become full-human."

For the first time since her death, tears started to brim out Kikyo's eyes, "No! Thats.. Thats.. not true... I loved him!"

The voice responsed in disgust, "Love? If you loved him so much, why did you want him to change into a full-human? Why didn't you just wish for the jewel to disappear, or use it for a to help someone else. To truly love someone is to love them despite their physical differences. Face the truth, Kikyo, you tried to use him."

Kikyo felt as if a 1000 arrows ripped through her body and soul. She refused to keep her head up; the now brimming tears falling endlessly on the black void ground. She choked back a couple of sobs while falling on her knees.

The voice continued, "Hurts doesn't it? Well, you deserved it."
Kikyo pleaded, "Please, stop this."

"No. You must realize your faults and sins."

"But..."

The voice mocked, "What's wrong Kikyo, cannot stand the emotional hurt? Ha ha! I can't believe this! The former priestess that demons feared is pleading for mercy from words."

Kikyo thought that the situation wouldn't get any worse, until she heard the next couple words, "You are just a weak imitation of Kagome."

At this point, Kikyo was obliged to keep her pride; there was no way she was going to be called a copy of that reincarnation, "How dare you insult me! Yeah, its so easy to insult someone without showing your face you coward!!!"

Then there was silence.

Without warning, a vortex-like hole sprang open. kikyo covered her face from the intense gusts of winds emitting from the hole. 'This is more stronger than the monk's curse.' She thought. When it seemed like the wind would never end, suddenly it did. Kikyo was anxious on the events that just occured, and started to run towards the former holes location, only to stop in place. Standing before her was a boy roughly around the age of 12, all dressed up in a black kimino. The green eyes shined brightly through the darkness. Kikyo can only stare at the figure, until she realized that she was naked. Her face turned as red as a cherry and screamed. The little boy covered his ears in pain, "Hey ! Can you lower your voice wench! Besides, I am too young to be getting off of the situation ok?"

The naked priestess covered his front with both of her hands,"You are the one who has been insulting me! You little brat!"

The boy grinned, "Ooh... anger... I'm so afraid. Besides, it was you that told me to get out here, Kagomeeeee."

"YOU! Stop that! Or I will have to hurt you!"

"A threat huh? Well, you are a killer afterall. I can't call you a miko because mikos only kill demons."

Instead of responding, Kikyo glared daggers at the boy, moving her hand where her bow should have been, but then remembered that it wasn't there. The boy noticed the action, "Oh thought of using the bow, will you? Well, If you assume that you can destroy me, then I will give you a chance."

The little boy snapped his fingers, and out of thin air, a bow and arrow appeared before Kikyo.

"Come on Kikyo. You're a miko right. Then that means you should be able to purify a demon like me."

The words surprised Kikyo, 'Demon? This kid is a demon? Why couldn't I sense his aura?' (AN: Can you guess why?) She hesitated in grabbing the bow and arrow,'What if this kid is a human?'

The little kid sighed, "I bet you are thinking if I am human or not. This is the afterworld near hell, Kikyo. Everything here is considered demonic." the priestess' face faltered as the demon continued, "That is.. unless you are scared... Kagome."

That was the last straw. Kikyo was jealous of what Kagome accomplished. She was sick of her, She was sick of her name, but the worst thing she hated was being insulted like that. Forgetting about everything else, she pulled the bow back, and let the arrow fly with percision. But to the miko, something was wrong. She felt no purification magic behind her arrows. Her theory was correct when she saw the demon break the arrow apart with a simple arm movement."

She was a lost for words, "How? How?"

"Do you get it Kikyo? True dead Miko's don't end up in hell, therefore you are not considered a miko." The boy opened his palm, releasing a blast of wind energy, crushing the bow into two.

"But I am a miko."

"You were a miko, until you turned evil. A definition of a miko is a person pure hearted that works to destroy demons. When you were resurrected and have the urge to get revenge on Inuyasha, plus trying to kill your reincarnation, well lets just say that your title is revoked."

Kikyo felt helpless without her powers, and instantly gasped of her realization, "Are you the Lord of hell?"

The boy gave her a look a astonishment, "You think I am the ruler? Are you serious?"

"You are not?"

the boy responsed, "Of course not. My name is Wen. I am responsible of the Repentace Process."

Kikyo questioned, "The Repentance Process?"

"Yes. Every person sent to hell goes through a repent process. It is to show the individual their past sins before releasing them into the hell world. This is in hope that the person will change their ways in the afterlife."

Wen sighed, "Well its time for you to go now. I will give you a word of advice: There are people in the realm that are ruthless and will kill you without any second thought. See, If you die in the living world, you become a spirit in the afterlife, but if you die in the afterlife, then you cease to exist."

Kikyo was truly afraid at this point. If she were to die again, it would be all over for her. And without her purity magic by her side, she is just a weak human.

An dark aura surrounded Wen. Then, he floated up in the air, a ball of energy formed within his palm, "well, Good luck, priestess." He released the ball, striking the ground with immense force. The force created a tear in the black surroundings, chains jumped out of the hole capturing Kikyo. All of her attempts to break free were worthless; and with lightning-like speed, was sucked down the portal.

Wen closed the hole and whispered,"Good luck, Kikyo. You will need it."
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'Ouch what just happened.' Kikyo opened her eyes, feeling groggy and weak. When she regained her bearings, Kikyo gasped in surprise: She was in a forest like the one in Feudal Japan. She scanned her surroundings and marveled at the similarity. The only difference was the sky was unusually red. Kikyo walked near the cliff and saw a small town down below. 'A town. Maybe I can get some clothes.' Her thoughts were cut short however, when she saw a group of four men on horses standing before her.

Kikyo asked, "Can you guys please assist me."

One of the guys chuckled, "Sure, sweetie we can help you, only if you give us something."

"I'm sorry. I do not have any money."

"Well, maybe we can work something out." The man said licked his lips.

Kikyo didn't comprehend the message, until she remembered that she was naked. One of the man smirked, "Thats right honey, you can be our entertainment."

Without thought, Kikyo ran through the forest. She sprinted endlessly, looking back to see the four bandits slowly closing the distance. 'I have to get away.' Kikyo tried as hard as she could to avoid the men, to get away from this nightmare. A net flew out; causing the girl to tumble and fall. Kikyo looked helplessly as the men got off the horses, advanced on her fallen form.

With terror written on her face, one of the men laughed and said, "Don't worry sweetie. You are going to enjoy this." The men were near her now, 1 million thoughts racing through her mind, "Oh my god, I am going to be raped. Please help me."

The leader grabbed her arm; jerking her foward. Kikyo tried to punch the man in his "area" but was instantly restrained by the other 3. The leader waved his finger in her face, "Ah Ah Ah. Naughty girl. Just for that I am going to have to be rough with you." The man was attempting to spread open her legs, with no where to run or hide. Kikyo was crying now, screaming mentally, 'Please someone help me! I am sorry for what I did! I am sorry for what pain I caused to kagome. Please, someone help me.' She closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

Kikyo reopened her eyes, hearing the painful screech of the leader. An unknown man struck the leader's neck with a wooden sword. The rescuer was wearing a rice farmer's hat, with a sake bottle in his sash. The dark blue kimino matched the man's eyes, who Kikyo assumed the man to be around the 30's. The other people threw down the girl and chased after the unknown swordsman, "Who do you think you are?" One of the bandits tried to slash him with a dagger, only to be met with a wooden sword thrust to the neck area. The wooden sword drove deep into the enemy's neck, the windpipe injured severly. As the bandit dropped, the stranger noticed one trying to ambush him. The stranger ducked under the bandits attack, followed up with a downward strike to the shoulder. The pain was excuricating for the bandit, as he passed out.

The last one retreated back to kikyo, holding a knife to her neck.

"Don't move or the woman gets---."

He didn't have enough time to finish his phrase because with extraordinary speed, the man struck the bandit with a mid-crescent strike to the ribcage. Both Shocked and hurt, the person dropped his knife and passed out. Kikyo looked in disbelief at the events that just unfolded. The swordsman put his sword away, and began to walk away from the naked girl.

Forgetting about her nakedness, Kikyo ran and hugged the unknown person tightly, tears soaking up the sleeves. "Thank you. Thank you." she repeated while the man hugged her back in comfort. They stayed in embrace for a long time. The man decided to break the contact, but soon found out that she was asleep from exhaustation. He laid her on the ground and covered her flesh with his outer haori. After covering her up, he carried her bridal-style towards the small town below.

(Author's note: Another dark chapter... but it will get more action orientated soon. Oh yeah if anyone can tell me the japanese name of a wooden blade, I will appreciate it. Oh yeah If anyone can figure out the pairing (Kikyo/???) in this fic before chapter 6 or 7. I will let them decide what will happen in the later chapters) So follow the hints throughout the chapters...)

Hint 1: Doesn't have silver hair...
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